[Osia-members] Vale Carl Holden

[Jack Burton]

Evening, all.

With great sadness, I must inform you that my good friend and former
OSIA director Carl Holden has passed away.

As some of you are aware, in mid February Carl suffered a major stroke,
leaving him with a left hemiplaegia.

True to form, he battled on regardless for six months until ultimately
he succumbed to complications associated with pneumonia. Carl died
peacefully in his sleep last week, at Taree NSW.

The fact that he survived so long following such a severe stroke is a
testament both to his own strength of character & will and to the
tireless care & devotion of his sister Dianna in Carl's time of need.

Following a private burial, a memorial service for Carl's family &
friends will be held on 28 August.

As OSIA members and other subscribers to this list will no doubt be
aware, one of Carl's companies -- Holden Dynamics -- is a long-standing
OSIA member, having joined in the relatively early days of OSIA.

Most members will also recall Carl's distinguished service on the OSIA
board. He was first elected to the board at the 2010 (Rhodes, NSW) AGM,
where he, together with me and several others, under the leadership of
Stuart Guthrie, formed the "rescue board" that led OSIA out of the
wilderness following the constitutional crisis of 2010.

Carl served as Director (Government Relations) during the 2010/11 &
2011/12 terms and Director (Public Policy) during the 2012/13 term. He
was re-elected to the OSIA board at the 2016 (Sydney, NSW) AGM but
resigned a fortnight later, following my own resignation from the
board.

Carl also served as Chairman of the OSIA Government Relations Committee
and of the OSIA TPP Committee throughout their respective terms of
existence.

Some highlights of his contributions to OSIA (in addition to his
long-standing involvement in the TPP matter and his key role in OSIA's
resurrection following the crisis of 2010) included securing
opportunities for direct engagement with government, both the
legislative (e.g. meeting with the then Parliamentary Secretary to the
Prime Minister & Cabinet, Senator Lundy) and executive (e.g. meeting
with the then Commonwealth Government ICT Supplier Advocate, Don
Easter) branches.

During his time on the board, Carl also assisted Simon Roberts in the
Infrastructure portfolio (e.g. in the early stages of restoring OSIA's
online identity) and assisted me in the former Alliances portfolio
(e.g. with representing OSIA to the Open Technology Foundation).

In the latter role, I can attest that there was nobody I'd rather have
at my side than Carl, when working a room full of senior public
servants -- he was absolutely brilliant at it.

Carl's passion for public policy, especially from an open source
perspective, did not end with his time at OSIA either. I am proud to
have been Carl's co-author on the very last government submission he was
involved in drafting (to the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet's
ICT Procurement Task Force), which we lodged just two short weeks before
he had his stroke. To the best of my knowledge, this was Carl's last
formal publication. For those interested, a copy is available here:
https://safecoms.com.au/publications.html

Outside of OSIA Carl had many business interests, including two
companies of his own: Holden Dynamics and Dot MobiCard. He was also a
co-founder (with me) of Safecoms Cyber Security and a co-founder (with
two others) of Fatigue Fighter.

Carl was no stranger to the non-profit sector either. In addition to
OSIA, his pro bono service extended to organisations such as The Oaks
Chamber of Commerce (which he founded) and the Australian Kindness
Movement (of which he was the President).

A keen aviator in his spare time (if you can imagine how he found any,
given all of the above!), Carl helped establish the Ultra-light class
in Australia and was also heavily involved with pilot training, having
run at least two flying schools and having produced many instructional
videos in years gone by. And as recently as late last year, his skills
were still much in demand as an independent valuer of somewhat larger
aircraft.

On a more personal note, I feel privileged to have been able to count
Carl as good friend. He was a kind, generous, loyal, dedicated,
enthusiastic, gregarious, hard-working man, who was always quick with a
joke, never afraid to speak his mind, constantly thinking about the
"next big thing" and -- in his own words -- "very passionate about
technology and making a difference".

He will be sorely missed, clearly by his family and by his many
friends, but no doubt also by all those who had the pleasure of working
with him.

I am in regular contact with Carl's family and would be happy to pass
on any messages OSIA members or others on this list may have for them
(feel free to contact me off-list if that's more appropriate).

If those of you who were doing business with any of Carl's companies
have questions regarding continuity, see the brief annex below.

Regards,



-- 
Jack Burton FACS CP <jack at saosce.com.au>
--
Director, Saosce Pty Ltd (OSIA Member #50)
Company Secretary, Safecoms Cyber Security Pty Ltd
--


ANNEX: information for members doing business with Carl's companies
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Safecoms Cyber Security Pty Ltd
- the Automotive division has ceased operations until further notice
- all other divisions continue operating
- for any queries:
  - contact me on jack at safecoms.com.au
  - or call any of the phone numbers listed on the Safecoms website

Holden Dynamics Pty Ltd
and
Dot MobiCard Pty Ltd
- further information will no doubt be forthcoming from the new owners
  once probate is complete
- in the meantime, I am helping Carl's family to ensure that urgent
  matters arising before then still get attended to
- any clients with issues outstanding or arising should contact me at
  Safecoms as per above
- when doing so, please let me know that you are a client of Holden
  Dynamics or Dot MobiCard

Fatigue Fighter Pty Ltd
- all operations continue
- for any queries contact Fatigue Fighter in the usual manner